UK One of Leading Universities for Number of Fulbright Scholars

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October 30, 2013

by Kathy Johnson & Sarah Geegan

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 30, 2013) ― The University of Kentucky is one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars in the country. In a recently released ranking in the Chronicle of Higher Education, UK is ranked sixth among research institutions for its number of professors earning the prestigious Fulbright grants for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Sponsored by the United States Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program, which provides funding for professionals, teachers, students and scholars to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools in countries other than their own. The program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Michael Samers is an associate professor in the Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is conducting research in France. His project is titled "Beyond the Banlieues: Making a Living with Alternative Economic Projects."

Matthew Zook is an associate professor in the Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences. Zook is conducting research and lecturing in Estonia. The title of his project is "Using Geoweb Big Data to Explore the Spatial Patterns of Economic and Social Behavior."

Doug Slaymaker is an associate professor of Japanese, in the College of Arts and Sciences, who will do research in Tokyo, Japan. Slaymaker will complete the research for his book project that follows Japanese artists who move from Tokyo to work in Paris in the early decades of the 20th century.

Alan Fryar is an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. Fryar will do research in Fez, Morocco, examining how the flow of springs in the Middle Atlas mountains may respond to climate change.

Paul Vincelli, a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is conducting research and lecturing in Nicaragua. "Collaborative Enhancement of Plant Diagnostics and Sustainable Food Production Systems In Nicaragua" is the title of his Fulbright project.

Among the top 10 research universities for number of U.S. Fulbright Scholars are Ohio State University, Texas Tech University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.